1*1)2 Hiflory ^ANIMALS, 227 
brown, often marbled, and often variegated with large, regular, round, black fpots; 
the left fide, or, as we vulgarly call it, the belly, is white, but it is fometimes fpotted 
with yellow : the lateral line is in the lower part ftraight, but in the upper it is fome- 
what arcuated: the fcales are very fmall, and adhere clofely and firmly to the fkin, 
which is thick and fmooth; and the whole, indeed, appears fo fmooth, that on a flight 
view there would not be fuppofed to be any fcales at all on the fifh: the fcales at the 
lateral line, on the right fide, or, as we call it, on the back, are rendered rough by 
certain fmall tubercles, and particularly about the curvatures of that line at the pedoral 
fins: on the right fide alfo there are, at the roots of the dorfal fin, and the pinna ani, 
certain bony tubercles fomewhat flatted, and furnifhed with feveral little fpines, which 
turn their points backward : the back fin has from fixty to fixty-two rays; the pinna 
ani has forty-two or forty-three; the pedtoral fins have each twelve, and the ventral 
fix; the tail is oblong, of a fquare figure, and equal at the extremity, not forked nor 
pointed ; the vertebras are twenty-five ; the ribs on each fide are eleven. 
We have this fpecies in vaft abundance in the Thames, and many other of our 
large rivers toward the fea. Ray, Willughby, and Bellonius call it PafTer fluviatilis, 
vulgo flefus ; Charleton, PafTer niger ; and Gefner, Flefus and Fleteletus. We ufu- 
ally call it the Flounder, fometimes, the Fluke or Bui, 
Pleuronecles oculis a dextra , totus glaher . 
The PleuroneShs , with the eyes on the right fide , and the 
This grows to a very confiderable fize, and is one of the moft efteemed fifh at our 
tables: the head is fmall, in proportion to the fize of the body; the eyes are large and 
protuberant; the noftrils have each two apertures, and are fituated under the eyes; 
the right and left fides, or, as we ufually exprefs ourfelves, the back and belly of this 
fifh, are both fmooth. It is confiderably thick and flefhy, and the right fide, which is 
uppermoft, as it fwims, is of a pale reddifh-brown, and the other white : the dorfal fin 
reaches from the head to the tail, and has a hundred and five rays: the pedtoral fins 
have each fifteen rays, and the ventral ones fix ; the pinna ani has feventy-nine rays. 
We have it in our feas in great abundance. Ray and Rondelet calls it Hippo- 
gloflfus; Gefner, HippoglofTus, id eft, Buglofliis maximus in oceano ; Charleton calls it 
PafTer Britannicus; and Schoneveldt, Pafferum genus maximum. We call it in fome 
places a Hollibut, but more ufually a Turbot. 
PleuroneEles oculis a finifra , cor pore glahro. 
The fmooth-hodkd PleuroneEles y with the eyes on the left fde . 
This is a moderately large fpecies, but it is not fo thick and flefhy, in proportion 
to it’s fize, as the turbot, nor is it’s flefh fo well tailed or fo firm : the head is fmall, 
and the opening of the mouth larger than in moft of this genus: the eyes are pro¬ 
tuberant, and ftand on the left fide of the head, not on the right, as in all the 1 pre¬ 
ceding fpecies: the teeth are fmall and obtufe ; the eyes are large and prominent: the 
right fide or back is of a dulky brown, and the other fide of a fine, bright, pearly 
white, with a tinge of bluilh in it. 
We have this on our coafts in fome plenty; it is fometimes brought to market in 
London : it ufed to be called the Pearl, but of late our fifh-mongers have found it 
more to their intereft to fell it under the the name of the Hollibut, on which foun¬ 
dation they are in the right, who diftinguifh the hollibut from the turbot. Ray and 
Willughby call this fpecies Rhombus non aculeatus fquammofus; fElian calls it Amply 
; and moft of the old Latin writers, after his example, Rhombus; Gefner and 
fome others call it Rhombus kevis; and Bellonius, Rhombus alter Gallicus; our peo¬ 
ple in Cornwall, Lug-a-leaf. 
PleuroneBes 
